Psychotherapy Essay examples

“Psychotherapy is a process that focuses on helping you heal and learn more adaptive ways to deal with the problems or issues within your life. It can also be a supportive process when going through a difficult period or under increase stress such as starting a new career or going through a divorce. Generally psychotherapy is recommended when a person is struggling with a life, work or relationship issue or a mental health concern – and the issues or concerns are causing the individual a great deal of pain or upset for longer than a few days or

The understanding and belief of talking therapy underpins psychoanalysis and all other theories that developed from it.

There are several different types of theoretical orientations that a student may choose to identify him or herself with. Although students may choose a specific theoretical orientation they may change their orientation later on in their academic career depending on their perspective of the field. Each orientation is equal, neither orientation is better than the other. Just because a person picks a certain orientation doesn’t mean that their psychological assessment will be any longer or shorter. Its important that a student identifies what they what orientation they want to identify with because they should spend their time as a student becoming an expert in that orientation, because when they graduate they are considered experts and is expected to have a certain level of competency. As of right now I mostly identify with eclectic. I see that there is so much value in each orientation, but for the purpose of this paper I am going to choose cognitive behavioral therapy. The reason that I mostly identify with CBT is because I currently use it now and I’m very familiar with it. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) refers to a class of interventions that share the basic premise that mental disorders and psychological distress are maintained by cognitive factors (Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer, & Fang, 2012).

With these attributes, they will have the fundamentals of creating a strong therapeutic alliance with their clients. The therapists should be encouraged in “treating new cases as unique and constructing new theories to fit them, rather than depending on categories of established theory and technique” (Safran & Muran, 2000). Although this does not mean that standard techniques are useless, flexibility and creativity in application of these theories is considered the most important skill of a good therapist.

Research provides the evidence necessary to prove the efficiency of a particular practice and support how that practice will be spread to the therapeutic community at large. Sharf (2012) exemplifies that 50% of patients that enter treatment show meaningful change after thirteen to eighteen sessions and 25% of additional patients show the same change after fifty sessions, as such psychotherapy research should pay attention to problems in treatment and change treatment to make it more successful. The utilization of evidence-based treatment provides statistical data that shows where specific treatment is working and areas that need improvement in order to increase successful outcomes. A variety of sources from which data can be collected to

These senses of invalidation from the therapist often cause clients to withdraw from therapy, or attack the therapist. Secondly, it was extremely difficult for clinicians to teach and strengthen new skills at the same time as they are targeting and treating the client’s motivation to die and suicidal behaviors that appeared in the previous week. Finally, therapist may be reinforced for iatrogenic treatment, where they reward clients for ineffective treatment strategies and punish them for effective treatment strategies. To address these difficulties, Linehan developed several modifications which formed the basis of DBT. (Dimeff & Linehan, Dialectical behavior therapy in a nutshell, 2001)

What applied clinical problem would you most like to focus on in your PsyD studies and in the PsyD Clinical Psychology dissertation/doctoral project? Tell us something about your knowledge of the relevant theory and concepts, research, and the application of that scholarship to clinical practice.

Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping all people live mentally healthier lives. With more than 320 affiliate nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who promote mental wellness for the health and well being of the nation, every day, and in a time of crisis (2007 Mental Health America). As an organization, Mental Health America has been around for nearly a century. We began work in 1909 when Clifford W. Beers, a young business man who struggled with a mental illness and shared his story with the world in his autobiography “A Mind

"Subsequently, a study showed solution-focused brief therapy demonstrated a small, but positive treatment effects favoring SFBT group on the outcome measures. Only the magnitude of the effect for internalizing

Among these therapeutic approaches are the psychodynamic approach and the existential approach. An example of existential approach psychotherapy is the person-centred therapy that was introduced by Carl Rogers in the 1940s. Person-centred therapy (PCT) focuses on the quality of the person-to-person therapeutic relationship; it places faith and gives responsibility to the client in dealing with problems and concerns (Corey, 2009, p. 30). On the other hand, for the psychodynamic approach, Sigmund Freud, the core founder of this approach developed psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a therapy aimed to treat mental disorder. It is a set of techniques for treating the unconscious causes of mental disorders; as well as to explain the underlying factors of how human personality and abnormality develop from childhood (Corey, 2009, p. 30). This paper examines the similarities and differences between psychoanalytic therapy and

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is among the most extensively tested psychotherapies for depression. Many studies have confirmed the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as a treatment for depression. This paper will provide background information about the intervention, address the target population, and describe program structure and key components. It will also provide examples of program implementation, challenges/barriers to implementing the practice, address how the practice supports recovery from a serious mental illness standpoint and provide a summary. Although there are several types of therapy available to treat depression and other mood disorders, CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been one of the most widely

Theories play an important role in how a counselor serves their clients. Theories provide counselors with a foundation on which to build their counseling style. “Theories ground us as professional counselors. They provide a means to understand what we are doing, how we are serving clients, and how to explain counseling to clients” (Erford, 2010). Counselors are responsible for being aware of different theories in order to apply them appropriately within their practice. Established and new theories play an important and constant role in mental health counseling. Established theories in mental health counseling are based on “empirical or scientific foundations” (American Counseling Association, 2005). The best way to gain the most

However, the results of many clinical trials promulgate its inefficacy and unreliability, with high relapse rates and a dependence on therapist competence.13

Proponents of EVT argue that the manualized treatment is an attempt to focus psychological training and find the most efficient and effective treatments (Halford, 1997). Research indicates that manualized treatments should achieve results that are more consistent with fewer negative effects than non structured interventions (Drozd & Goldfried, 1996). However, dependence on manualized treatments may lead to the idea everyone diagnosed with the same disorder can be treated in the same way, regardless of individual characteristics or presentation of the disorder (Drozd & Goldfried, 1996). Hence, proponents of empirically validated treatments argue against

Many people feel apprehensive and miserable every now and then, but when does it take over their whole lives? Losing a loved one, doing poorly in school or work, being bullied and other hardships might lead a person to feel sad, lonely, scared, nervous and/or anxious. Some people experience this on an everyday basis, sometimes even or no reason at all. Those people might have an anxiety disorder, depression, or both. It is highly likely for someone with an anxiety disorder to also be suffering from depression, or the other way around. 50% of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.